Chair's Letter

September 2008

Whether you are an old friend or newcomer, welcome to the Department of Politics!

Department of Politics Chair, Jeffrey W.Legro

Presidential election years and new administrations are always a time of transition and taking stock.

In the Department of Politics we too have undergone a transition. Over 1/3 of our faculty have come to UVA in just the last few years. These new professors were highly recruited by others and hail from the best universities in the nation. We are delighted to have them as colleagues. They bring cutting edge methodological skills, a deep expertise in their respective areas, and an ambition to make Mr. Jefferson’s University THE place to study all facets of politics.

Our new arrivals join a faculty already distinguished by a passion for asking big questions, a reputation for writing important books, and an unrelenting drive for substantive knowledge. The fusion of experienced hands and new blood makes UVA an exciting place to study politics.

We have also been taking stock. This past year, an outside review of the Department was commissioned by the Provost’s office. A committee of leading academics from across the county visited and did a comprehensive assessment. They concluded that UVA Politics is “on a trajectory that is sharply upward” and is “poised to become a leading center for the study of politics and government in the United States.” The department “offers the university an important opportunity to consolidate its national reputation for excellence in research as well as teaching.” We are encouraged and energized by their report and suggestions.

Faculty members have been very productive (see Department Newsletters). Since 2000, Politics professors have produced some 60 books, many of which have appeared in top university and commercial presses, including Cambridge, Princeton, Oxford, Chicago, Yale, Cornell, Harvard, and Stanford. The 2005 Faculty Scholarly Productivity Index (produced by Academic Analytics) ranked the Department 10th in the nation.

UVA Politics has notable strengths in such areas as political theory, great power relations, democratization, race and politics, political economy, elections and campaigns, U.S. foreign policy, and American political thought and development. We have an unusual ability to connect globalization to politics within particular countries. The faculty has rich knowledge of key regions such as Russia, China, the Middle East, Europe, Japan, India, Africa, and the Americas. Our scholars aim both to advance debates within the academy and to connect their work to pressing contemporary problems.

Politics is one of the most in-demand - and demanding - departments at Mr. Jefferson’s university. Students who find their way here are inspired by professors who take teaching and mentoring seriously and joyfully. And we are inspired by our students who regularly garner notable undergraduate awards - including in recent years Rhodes, Marshall, Truman, Watson and Fulbright Fellowships. They also go on to top tier graduate programs in law, business, public policy and many social science disciplines. And they are recruited for demanding jobs in business, government, non-profits, and yes, politics.

Our graduate program is thriving. UVA Politics Ph.D.s are finding jobs in top 60 research universities and small liberal arts colleges. Moreover, the Department continued its strong record of placing our students in significant public and private sector organizations. They are remarkably successful at turning their work into books and articles. Just this year, they placed articles in Review of Politics and Philosophy and Social Criticism. A second year graduate student, Davis Brown, published his first book , The Sword, the Cross, and the Eagle: The American Christian Just War Tradition (Rowman & Littlefield, 2008). And several of our recent grads published their revised dissertations as books – E.g. see William Walldorf, Just Politics: Human Rights and the Foreign Policy of Great Powers (Cornell University Press, 2008)

So if you are interested in local, national, or global political transitions, you will find something of interest, and much of excellence, in the links on this page.

Please take a look - and do not hesitate to contact us with your questions and suggestions at uva-pol@virginia.edu.